It is known that certain organisms that produce antibiotics have internal protective mechanisms that make them resistant to the antibiotic which they produce. The production of antibiotics by such organisms appears to be characterized by a "lag period" caused by the requirement of the organisms to first become resistant to the antibiotics they produce prior to initiating antibiotic synthesis. As a result, the synthesis of the desired antibiotics in useful amounts is delayed.
In the case of Streptomyces lincolnensis and Streptomyces fradiae, organisms that product lincomycin and tylosin, respectively, resistance to these antibiotics appears to be of the inducible form. It thus appears that for the organisms to remain viable while synthesizing their respective antibiotics, they must somehow express resistance to the antibiotics they produce. Several models may account for the induction--e.g. (i) production of low, subinhibitory levels of antibiotic may induce resistance in the cell prior to initiation of full-scale antibiotic production, or (ii) production of a potent endogenous inducer which may enable full-scale antibiotic production after the producing cells have become maximally induced.
A method of increasing the antibiotic yield of antibiotic producing organisms which first must become inducibly resistant before producing the antibiotic in useful amounts by eliminating the "lag period" required for the organisms to become inducibly resistant obviously would be valuable.